Talk Back

English Language Learners

Thank you for your article “Born in the U.S.A.” in the January/February issue. I am an ESOL teacher who teaches 50 students in grades K&endash;5. They speak eight different languages. I am also working on the dissertation for my EdD in Teacher Leadership. The focus of my research is how best to assess ESOL students for special education classes. I was so inspired by your article. It gave a very accurate picture of ESOL students and the challenges they face. It also gave an accurate picture of the educational needs of this population.

Aletheia LeavittDouglasville, Georgia

Spread the blame

I must respond to the “Is NCLB Working?” (January/February 2009) I’m a retired public school teacher member of NEA and also a Republican. I defend our schools and teachers every way I can, but I cannot stand by and let you continue to lay blame on one side of this issue on Republicans. NCLB has not done what it claimed it would, but both sides need to come together to ensure that no idea or child is left behind.

Linda LemmonsLexington, Kentucky

Sweetheart deals or capitalism at its finest?

The article “Follow the Money” (January/February) is one all NEA members should read. Here in New York, General Electric has gone to communities and asked for unrealistic tax deals that in the long run cripple the communities that they say they will help. Our members and the public need to understand that these sweetheart tax deals simply pass their obligations to the rest of us.

Jeff BeallNewark, New York

Your arguments against giving businesses tax breaks in “Follow the Money” don’t seem right to me. The property taxes that will be paid by the workers at Company X will largely offset losses because the tax rate and ultimate income for those new workers’ dwellings/land is higher than what their business would otherwise give in taxes. Also, business taxes tend to go to general coffers rather than directly to the schools as property taxes do. The reality is that no business equals no income for anyone, and business will find a tax friendly place to relocate because that’s how it works.

William J. HollinMissoula, Montana

Grades are a fact of life

Adopting a philosophy of “you’re all doing great!” instead of assigning an actual grade of some sort, is akin to giving out medals for coming in 14th place (“What’s in an ‘A’?” January/February). While this ideology may be useful at early levels of the learning process, it does students an injustice as the student prepares himself or herself to enter an increasingly competitive world. To promote a non-evaluative system is not only ill-advised, but irresponsible, as well. As a professional educator, your job is to inspire students, but it is also to assign honest, detailed, and motivational feedback, based upon whatever systemic constraints and limitations are utilized for student evaluation.

Adelbert WilberBrownsburg, Indiana

Give Michelle Rhee a break

I am shocked and a bit unnerved at your “grading” of D.C. Schools Chancellor Rhee! (“State Report,” January/February) It’s true that her approach is very unorthodox and that she seems to not play well with others, but I applaud her efforts to bring about reform.

Kelly ParadezaPearl City, Hawaii

Share your ideas, comments, and opinions with NEA Today in one of four ways: On our Discussion Board. By Mail: Write to Letters, NEA Today, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036 Through the Web: By e-mail: Write to neatoday@nea.org. By Fax: (202) 822-7206 Letters are edited for length and clarity.

COMMENTS:

"[E]ducators' overwhelming consensus is that the Common Core will ultimately help all children
access an education that is challenging and complete." "Most NEA members support the
Common Core." These are the kinds of statments that indicate someone is not telling the truth as
they know it, but only as they, with crossed fingers, wish it were.
When we brush aside the broad-brush rhetoric, the CC is a list of topics, by grade level, that every
student at that grade should know. This model is a fallacy and is little different than NCLB's
"We've got high standards: by the year 2014, every fourth grader will read at the fourth grade
level." It's hogwash, with all due respect to hogs.
I understand why NEA felt it had to participate, but the CCSS is like the Tar Baby. Now you're
stuck. Now we're stuck.
"Every student will understand the graph of y equals the cube root of x?" I think it is safe to say
that not twenty percent of NEA members do. And it is safe to say that they do not need to. Not ten
percent of state legislators nor ten percent of state governors, not ten percent of members of the
administration understand the graph with any appreciation for its significance. And that is perfectly
okay.
It may be that the fellow with three technical degrees who, reportedly, wrote the math standards
does, but so what? That graph is important to some students, accessible to some more, and
irrelevant to most. Why is it a standard we should care about?
Sixteen or seventeen out of every one hundred children have an IQ under 85. Fifty or so have an
IQ under 100. IQ is not deterministic, but it sheds some light. All those students need to know the
graph of the cube root of x and the graph of the square root of x and the fairly nuanced difference
between the two? Please spare me any effort to make that case.
I can almost hear George W Bush's bright speech writer murmur about the bigotry of low
expectations. It was a good sound bite, but as policy, it's mindless. It may be that one out of seven,
or one out of six, or even one out of four jobs will require "advanced STEM skills", but - do the
math - that means that six out of seven or five out of six or three out of four jobs of the future do
not require advanced STEM skills.
NEA has tied its identity to an idea as flawed as NCLB, and is using distracting and dishonsest
rhetoric to cover it up. I'm glad to be a member of NEA for life, but I'll fight this stupidity for the
rest of my life (but only part time - I want to live the rest of my life, too).
Sincerely
Jim Perkins

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